To create a home
by emisfritish
Summary: Blaine Anderson had a plan. He was going to finish his last year of college, and become a music teacher. . However, when an event occurs and changes all his life, Blaine learns that plans change, and it's sometimes for the better.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Hi guys! So this is nerve wrecking. This is my first attempt at writing a fic, so I'm a little nervous. This is an AU in which Kurt and Blaine never met in high school, and haven't dated (yet anyway...). It will be a multi-chaptered fic, and I'll try to update every week (though I can't promise that...), and I already have a few chapters written out, so I know where I'm going.

This being my first fic, I don't really know what I'm doing, so don't hesitate to comment, and let me know what you think! Feel free to criticize and give your honest point of view, as long as it's done nicely! I also don't have a beta, so all errors are my own.

Don't hesitate to come and talk to me and tell me what you think of the fic, or of anything really!

I hope you enjoy the fic, and thank you for taking this journey with me!

* * *

Blaine suddenly wakes up and looks at his alarm clock. It's past midnight, on a week day. He is going to kill his roommate. He slops back onto his bed, only to hear a loud knock on his door.

Kurt, his roommate, tumbles into his room without asking.

"Blaine, would you answer the fucking door? It is almost one in the morning, we're in the middle of the week, and it would be great if you could avoid having people into our apartment in the middle of the night!"

He then storms out of the room without waiting for an answer. This gets Blaine out of his bed, and he reaches for his clothes. He was certain that whoever was knocking on the door for now the third time in a row would be one of Kurt's hook ups. The guy was very popular, which of course, wasn't such a surprise to Blaine. He had to admit Kurt was attractive, even if it pained him to say so; he had a fair and smooth skin, light colored-hair which he paid such a close attention to, and deep blue eyes. He also dressed in a way which made it almost impossible to not look at him whenever he entered a room; he had such a peculiar, and yet fantastic style. Blaine thought he was, to be honest, absolutely gorgeous. Of course, he would never admit this to his roommate. However Blaine had felt about him when he first moved into the apartment quickly ended when he got to know Kurt. The guy was smart he had to admit that, but he was also obnoxious, pretentious, self-centered and he drove Blaine up the wall. In the two years that they had shared an apartment, Blaine and Kurt never had been able to share a normal conversation, it was like the guy didn't even live on the same planet. He was always so concerned with looks and so materialistic, which Blaine couldn't stand. And of course, there was the dozens of guys that Kurt had hooked up with over the years, which didn't help Blaine's opinion of him.

Blaine was pulled out of his thoughts by another loud knock on the door.

"Isaac, if this is because you forgot your keys again, I'm going to kill…" Blaine didn't finish his sentence. Blaine got out of bed, and started walking towards the door. Isaac was their third roommate, and a close friend of Blaine's. He was fairly tall, with blond curly hair, and baby blue eyes. They had shared a class freshman year, and he was the one that had told Blaine about the available room in his apartment. Of course, he had forgotten to mention his very annoying roommate. However, Blaine was thankful to have a opportunity to live in such a place. The apartment was in a great location in the middle of New York, close to NYU, where all three roommates were attending school. Blaine might not get along with Kurt, or approve of his living style, but on the contrary, him and Isaac got along great, and for that he was grateful. Except when he woke him up at one in the morning because he had forgotten his keys. Again.

When Blaine finally opened the door, he stood stock still for a moment, with a gaping mouth. Indeed, the person standing on the other side wasn't Isaac, as he had originally thought, but a tired-looking police officer with a grave face.

"Are you Blaine Anderson?" asked the man in front of him. With his tired mind, and still in shock, Blaine didn't answer straight over. The officer looked perplexed and uncertain, until Blaine finally remembered to nod and answer the question. "I'm sorry to wake you up at such a late hour in the night. My name is Officer Williams, and I'm afraid I have some bad news, it's about your sister."

Blaine didn't say anything for a while, and just frowned. Why would some police officer come to his apartment in the middle of the night, to talk about a sister with whom he had lost all communication years ago? After their parents had passed away four years ago, their life had taken different paths. Indeed, while Blaine had decided to use the money from his parents' life insurance to put himself through college and make something out of himself, his sister had decided to use hers to drown her pain in alcohol and drugs. Blaine had tried to talk to her at the beginning, to stay with her so they could grieve together, to push her to get some help when the drinking became out of hand. He had been so patient. Forgiven her for creating a scene at their parent's funeral, took care of every legal detail, picked up at the station the time she had been arrested for public disorder, but after a year, he had given up. He still missed his parents every day, still felt like a hole was in his chest, and he sometimes felt so guilty for the way he had abandoned Laura, but he had to move on. He burrowed himself in his work, and tried his best to keep on living. A sudden noise brought Blaine back to the present and to the officer that was patiently waiting in their entry way, with a pitying look on his face.

Remembering his manners, Blaine said: "Come on in officer." They sat at the table in the middle of the small lounge he shared with Kurt and Isaac. Already dreading what the answer to his question would be, and how he would come up with the money to pay for whatever Laura had done, Blaine continued "What has she done now? And how much is this going to cost me?"

The police officer looked taken aback by the cold tone of Blaine's voice for a second, but being professional, he was quick to hide his emotions.

"I'm very sorry to come here with such news, but your sister passed away tonight sir." he said with a soft voice. "She was found in her apartment by a neighbor…" Blaine had stopped listening. He couldn't comprehend what he had just heard. His sister had died; the last member of his family had passed away. Sure, Blaine wasn't close to her anymore, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt deeply. He hadn't talked to her in years, but he always knew he could always find her if he one day wanted to, the opportunity to rebuild his relationship with her was always present, until now that is. Because his sister had died. The last member of his family had died. He was truly alone, for the first time in his life. Blaine lived in New York, the city which never slept, and where the streets were always packed with people. He lived in an apartment he shared with two other students; he was constantly surrounded by people, and never felt lonely. Until now that is. His sister, his last tie to his parents, to his past was now gone. The officer then said something that pulled Blaine out of his thoughts.

"The person who found your sister went to her apartment because he was worried about the cries from the baby that had been going on for quite a while. He said it wasn't unusual for the baby to cry, but that it never lasted this long…"

"I'm sorry what?" Blaine cut him off "The baby… What baby?" Blaine felt even more lost than he did before. Surly, he had misunderstood; it was the shock that was making him hear things. But…

"Your niece Mister Anderson, Emily." The officer looked confused for a moment, until understanding drew on his face "You didn't know your sister had a daughter..?" Blaine completely froze upon hearing the news. He couldn't talk, couldn't find his voice. His sister had a baby, a daughter, and Blaine didn't even know about her. How could this be news to him? He didn't even know he had a niece, his sister never told him that she was with someone, had started a family again. They had grown so far apart that he didn't know anything about his sister's life anymore. What kind of brother did that make him?

"How – How old is she?" Blaine asked with a trembling voice "And where is she? Was she harmed in any way?" The officer quickly shook his head to reassure the young man in front of him.

"Emily is 11 months old. She doesn't have any recent injuries, but she didn't look too good when we found her. She was crying next to the body, looked like she hadn't been fed in days, and hadn't been bathed in weeks… She's with child services right now".

"What about her father?" Blaine asked quickly.

The officer looked at him with soft eyes, and started to explain "When we interrogated the neighbors, they said they never met the father, that they weren't even sure if your sister had known who the father was. You're the only family this child has left Mr. Anderson. She needs you…"

Understanding came to Blaine. The only family she had left, this child had no one. Her father was missing, her mother had died, she was now Blaine's responsibility. His sister wasn't there anymore, she had passed away alone in her apartment, and had only been discovered hours later by a neighbor. He hadn't even known he had a niece until a few minutes away, because he had stopped talking to her years ago. The guilt about that would always live with him. However her daughter was still there, she was still alive and alone. With that thought, Blaine knew his decision was taken. He would do anything he could to help his niece, and honor his sister by taking care of her daughter. Blaine had thought that he had no family left, that we was alone in the world, but maybe it didn't have to be that way. Maybe Blaine didn't have to be alone; they could be a family together. Him and this little girl, which he had yet to meet. He could do this, had to do this. Right at this moment, Blaine realized his life never would be the same.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next day found Blaine lying in bed for several hours. He hadn't slept at all after the officer had left, too wired to even think of sleeping. The officer had stayed a while longer, assured Blaine that his niece was in good hands for a few days, and gave her the address to the place she was staying to right now, told him that whenever he was ready, he could come and pick her up. _Never, _thought Blaine. _I'll never be ready for such a responsibility. _Blaine was 22, he still had a year of college left, he was living in a small apartment in the middle of New York, with two other guys in their twenties. How could he take care of this little girl? How could he even consider taking her in? Where would she live? How could he raise a child, when he was still a child himself? It was true that Blaine was rather responsible for his age, he never got excessively drunk, he managed to study, and keep a stable job at the local music store, he didn't spend his time partying, he kept up his grades, he was a good student. But that's all his was, a good student. That didn't mean he was cut out to be a parent, and it certainly didn't make him a good parent. When the officer left, he had decided that he would do good by this little girl, who like him, was alone in the world right now. However, after several hours of lying awake in bed and thinking, he wasn't so sure. What had been evident the night before was now really uncertain.

Isaac suddenly came crashing in his room, and threw himself on the other side of Blaine's bed. "Dude, you will not believe the night I just had! So I went to this party at Marta's place you know where? And there was this beautiful girl there, she was sitting by herself, and you know how shy I can be, but still, I did it man! I actually went to talk to her, and it was epic and…. Blaine, are you listening?" Blaine was still lying on his bed, and hadn't moved a muscle since Isaac entered his bedroom. He was watching the sealing with empty eyes, and completely silent. Seeing the state his friend was in, and how tense his entire body seemed to be, Isaac started to worry.

"Blaine, are you ok? Are you sick or something?"

Blaine still didn't react, or say anything. He was so far out in thought, thinking about Emily, that he didn't even hear Isaac until he gently shook Blaine's shoulder. "Blaine…?" he said uncertainly. Isaac touching him prompted Blaine into movement, and he turned his head towards Isaac on the bed. "Sorry, sorry…. What did you say?" he questioned. Isaac still looked at him with concern in his eyes, Blaine seemed so far away, so lost, and it wasn't like him at all. Usually when Isaac came to talk to Blaine, the man was always so dynamic, and enthusiast and always willing to listen and give praise or advice to his shy friend. The unusual reaction worried Isaac, and he didn't know how to act with a Blaine that wasn't full of life.

"Did something happen? Do you want to talk about it?"

After another long moment of silence, with Blaine just lying there looking at Isaac as if he wasn't even there, Blaine finally stated in a blank tone: "My sister died last night, and I have a niece."

"I'm sorry, what?!" cried Isaac. "Could you please repeat what you just said?"

"My sister died last night, and I have a niece" Blaine repeated in a calm voice. He couldn't deal with his emotions right now, he was still in shock, and wouldn't allow himself to think about the loss of his sister, and the pain in his chest. He couldn't process everything at the same time. First, he had to process the fact that he was an uncle, and would now be responsible for the life of another human being. Another human being who was so small, and innocent, and wasn't equipped to deal with the world around her yet. This thought prompted Blaine into jumping out of his bed, and he started pacing and talking very quickly.

"My sister died last night and I have a niece. I have a niece, and an officer came in last night and told me that I was her last known living relative. I am now responsible for the life of a tiny human being who isn't even one year old. I can't do it. I don't know how they expect me to take care of a kid when I'm still a kid myself. I have to finish my last year of college, and then become a music teacher, that was always the plan, that was what my life was supposed to be. This can't be happening, I can't do it. We live in a small apartment in the middle of New York; it's not the place for a little girl to live. I live with two roommates for god sakes. I neither have the time, nor the money to take care of her, I can't do it. I…"

"BLAINE CALM DOWN!" suddenly screamed Isaac. The scream finally ceased Blaine's ranting, and he stopped pacing. Isaac was standing in front of him, and had both of his hands on Blaine's shoulders. "Sorry, I needed to get your attention, and you weren't listening", he said. "Let's start from the beginning ok? Just tell me everything".

"Last… last night, an officer came at about 1 o'clock in the morning" stuttered Blaine. "He wanted to tell me that my sister was found dead in her apartment, and that she had a daughter, who is now in the care of child service, and is all alone. Who is depending on me to take care of her and…"

"Blaine" Isaac said when he could sense that the man was building up into another rant of massive proportions. "You have a niece?"

Blaine looked at Isaac with eyes that were full of fear, and just nodded.

"What's her name?" asked Isaac.

"Emily. Her name is Emily, and I didn't even know she existed until last night."

"Ok. Ok. That's pretty bad, and I can see why you're freaking out. I understand, but you need to calm down, and breathe". Blaine nodded at his friend's words, and took a big breath.

"You have to listen to me carefully because this is important Ok?" Isaac asked, and when Blaine nodded again, he continued "I understand what you're feeling. Yes, you're still in college, and yes, Emily was not part of the plan. You feel like you can't do that, you're not responsible enough, not capable enough, and all of these. And trust me, I can understand that. But Blaine, if anyone can do it, it's you. No let me finish ok?" He said when he saw Blaine was about to protest. "If anyone can do it, it's you. Yes, you're still in college, and yes, you're young. But you're also so kind, and loving, and nurturing. Just look at how you're always there for me and willing to defend and reassure me whenever. I know you can do this, because I know you have it in your heart to put this little girl's needs first, and do what's best for her. Yes, she wasn't part of the plan. But Blaine, plans change. They evolve, and they develop as time goes, and this means yours is going to have to change. You might not have expected her, but she's here now, and you can't change that. I am so terribly sorry for the loss of your sister; I cannot begin to express how sorry I am. But right now, there is a little girl that just lost her mother. And in this tragedy, she got lucky. Because she gained you as an uncle and I know you are going to be amazing. You're going to take care of her, and love her, and be there for her, and that's what she needs right now ok? That's what she'll need most of the time. Money, Time, don't matter for the moment. You'll find the money, and you'll make the time for her, I know it. As for the apartment, I think we need to talk to Kurt".

Blaine's shoulders had slowly started to relax as Isaac speech went on, until he mentioned Kurt and then his shoulder tensed all over again. "Kurt?! Why would we need to talk to Kurt?"

"Blaine… It's his apartment as well; don't you think it's important we talk to him about this?"

And Blaine didn't have anything to say to that. Isaac was right. It was his apartment as well, and even if Blaine didn't like him, he still deserved to be consulted in this situation, he still lived there, and whatever happened would also depend on him. Everything Isaac had said made sense, and the fact that they were all living together in this apartment only meant one thing right now. Blaine was going to have to talk to Kurt, even if the idea of facing him with this made him uncomfortable.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Later that evening, Blaine and Isaac were both sitting around the table drinking a cup of coffee, or in Blaine's case, playing with the mug to give his hands something to do. He was so nervous, and he realized that the fate of Emily relied on Kurt's decision tonight, and that made him uncomfortable. He might still be hesitant and unsure that taking Emily in was the best thing to do, but he didn't want Kurt to be the one making the decision. It was a little childish, but if the decision was made not to take Emily in, he wanted it to be his completely, and not because of his obnoxious and pretentious roommate. Isaac could see how nervous Blaine was, but he didn't know what to do. He tried to explain several times to Blaine that Kurt wasn't as bad as he seemed to think, but he wouldn't hear of it. He had to admit that Kurt would often be particularly cold and distant with Blaine, and he didn't know why he acted that way. Isaac himself had no problems getting along with Kurt, and Kurt was always friendly with him, so he didn't understand why Blaine and Kurt seemed to hate each other so much, and had such a hard time getting along. He thought about it for a while, but then decided that Kurt and Blaine's relationship was a matter for another day. Still, he wasn't as nervous as Blaine was because he knew that despite what Blaine thought, Kurt did have a heart and wouldn't react badly to the news. He had tried to inform Blaine of that fact, but the man wouldn't be convinced until he saw it for himself.

When Kurt came back to the apartment at about 7 in the evening, he entered and saw his two roommates seating there in silence and grave faces. "Who died?" he asked sarcastically as he came forward, but he regretted the question when he saw the way Blaine's face darkened with pain, and saw Isaac flashing him a furious glare.

"Listen Kurt, can you be serious for 10 minutes? We really need to talk to you about something, and it would be great if you weren't being…" Isaac started to say.

"My sister died" Blaine said, cutting off Isaac in the middle of his sentence. At that, Kurt understood why they had such serious faces when he entered, and instantly felt guilty for what he had said when he entered.

"I'm really sorry Blaine" he said seriously. Blaine was surprised to see that Kurt seemed to be sincere and seemed genuinely sorry for him. Instead of answering, he acknowledged his apology both for the death of his sister, and what he said entering the apartment with a quick nod. He still felt anxious however, Kurt might seem more compassionate than he thought he would be, but that didn't mean he would accept the presence of Emily in the apartment.

"The thing is, when my sister died, she left behind her a complicated situation. And as Isaac pointed out before, and as much as I might dislike the fact, the decision of what happens next really depends on your opinion and is ultimately your decision."

Hearing that, Kurt frowned. He didn't understand, what could he have to do with the death of Blaine's sister. He was truly sorry for Blaine, he could understand the meaning of family, but he didn't understand what it had to do with him. He had never met his sister, didn't even know Blaine had one until now.

"I'm not sure I understand what this has to do with me" Kurt said, and he winced when he realized how cold that sounded "What I mean is, I didn't know your sister and… I'm not sure what decision you expect me…"

"She had a daughter" Blaine cut him off. "My sister has… had a daughter, who is 11 months old, and is now alone. Her name is Emily, and she doesn't have any family left. Last night, the person who rang the doorbell in the middle of the night? That was a police officer, he was there to inform me that my sister had died, and I was now responsible for this little girl."

At that, Kurt started to understand where Blaine was going with this, but he decided to let the man finish explaining before he answered. He could see how nervous Blaine already was, and didn't want to make it even worse. He might not always like the guy, but it didn't mean he wanted to make his life even more complicated. Especially in moment like these. He saw Blaine's shoulders tense, and the man took a large breath, before saying.

"Here's the deal Kurt. I would like her to come live here, in the apartment. I know it's a lot to ask, and I know you don't like me, and why should you do me any favors right? But she's a little girl, I'm her only family left, and I…"

"Okay" Kurt said quietly. However, Blaine didn't hear him and kept going.

"… really can't afford to live by myself, and…"

"Blaine" Kurt spoke over him. When the other man stopped talking and finally looked at him, Kurt continued. "I said okay. You don't need to convince me, I already agreed. She's your niece, and you're now her last remaining family, from what I gathered. So yes, okay. She can come and live here."

Blaine was so astonished by this answer, that he didn't say anything for several minutes. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Sure, he hoped that after he had told him all of his arguments, and after Isaac had tried to convince him a little, Kurt might say yes and relent. But he never expected him to say yes so quickly, without any hesitation or questions asked. While Blaine couldn't stop from staring at Kurt in disbelief, Isaac just looked at Kurt and smiled slightly. He knew Kurt better than Blaine did, and knew what Kurt's likely answer would be. He was happy to see that Kurt had agreed so readily, but couldn't say he was surprised. He knew a little about Kurt's history, and it didn't make sense for Kurt to say no.

When Blaine finally got over his surprise, he finally stopped staring at Kurt and cleared his throat. He almost asked if Kurt was sure of his decision, but he didn't want to tempt faith, and didn't want Kurt to come back on his word, so he simply thanked him.

"I… that's… Thank you. I know it's a lot to ask, so thank you." Blaine said uncertainly. "I'm still not sure that she will come and live here. I mean, she's still a child, and I'm not sure I'm fit to look after children, but thank you for saying yes. At least now I know whatever decision I take will be okay with the both of you."

Hearing that, Kurt frowned, but Blaine didn't notice and kept speaking, holding his head with both of his hands, as if he was too tired to even consider holding his head up. "Now, all I have to figure out is the money, and whether I'm really the best one to take care of her and…"

Isaac opened his mouth and was ready to reassure Blaine again, but to both his and Blaine's utter surprise, Kurt beat him to it.

"You are." said Kurt "Anything is better than child services, trust me on that". With that last sentence and a dark look on his face, Kurt stood up and went to his bedroom. Isaac and Blaine kept looking at the place where he had been only seconds before, and were both perplexed by his answer.

After a while, Blaine shook his head in order to try and clear his mind. He couldn't be thinking about Kurt right now, he had more urging matters on his plate. Still, he couldn't forget what Kurt had said before leaving. _Anything is better than child services. _Blaine hadn't thought of that. He had been so focused on the numerous ways in which he could fail Emily, and wouldn't be good enough of a parent for her, that he hadn't even considered than staying with him would always be better than the alternative. Blaine wasn't perfect, and he realized that taking care of Emily would probably be the hardest thing he had ever done in his life. However, he was family, and he was willing to do everything it took to make this little girl's life as good as it could be. He would do everything he could to provide for her, and raise her at the best of his ability, and one day, give her a real home to grow up in. And that had to beat Child Services right? With that final thought, Blaine knew that his decision was really taken. He was going to go and get Emily, and he was going to raise her in this apartment. He was really going to be responsible for another life for the next 17 years of his life at least. He was going to be parent.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Blaine is standing outside of the building, and he doesn't seem to be able to take the last step to go inside. The last step that will allow him to enter the building, and alter his entire life. This last step will allow him to meet Emily, to finally see his niece, the last piece of his sister, but it will also change his life forever. Up until now, Emily has kind of been an abstract concept, an idea. If he didn't think of it, he could almost pretend that she doesn't exist, that he just doesn't see his sister anymore, and not that she is dead. It's not that he doesn't want to meet his niece, he would love to meet this little girl, and get a chance to know her, but now if he enters the building, she becomes real. The fact that he is now responsible for a tiny human being, a person of only 11 months old will suddenly become his reality, not just an idea, but the real thing. He almost wishes that Kurt had said no, that way, he would have had a few more days to get used to the idea, and how much of a coward is he to think that way uh? But now, standing in front of the tall and dark building, he doesn't have a choice. He knows he's going to have to go inside eventually, to go and meet Emily, and take her with him to the apartment, to start their new life. But he can't take the last step. He's not strong enough to do this alone. Suddenly, he feels a hand squeeze his shoulder. He looks behind him, and sees Isaac. His friend smiles, and seems to understand what Blaine is feeling when he looks into his lost and panicked eyes.

"It's going to be okay, she's going to love you. Let's enter together" He says soothingly.

Blaine only nods his head, not finding his voice right at that moment, and turns back towards the building. He suddenly feels a rush of emotion overtaking him, and can feel his throat closing. In all of his panic, he almost forgot that Isaac is here, he's been so blinded by his fears and worries that he didn't notice that he didn't have to do this alone. Since their talk with Kurt last night, he hasn't been alone. Isaac has always been there to reassure him. They had decided that they should go and pick her up the next morning, thinking that the less time she spent with Child Services, the better off she would be. And since then, Isaac has been there for Blaine. He talked to him last night, until he could fall asleep, and he woke up early this morning, and is now missing his classes to accompany Blaine, so that he doesn't have to do this alone. Even Kurt, in his own way, had been there for Blaine. When the man woke up this morning for instance, he found the coffee pot still warm and full, and seeing as Isaac had still been sleeping, he understood that Kurt had made fresh one before leaving to do whatever he needed to do. The simple act almost brought a smile to Blaine's lips, and the gesture might have been little, but considering Kurt and Blaine's relationship, it was a huge improvement. In some ways, the small gesture meant almost as much as the fact that Isaac was there with him this morning.

Blaine takes a deep breath, steels himself, and finally takes the last step in the building. With Isaac following him, he walks towards the front desk, where a woman in her forties is sitting. When she sees them, she puts a single finger up, gesturing for them to wait a second, while she finishes something on her computer. After a few seconds, the woman clicks on something on her computer, and turns towards them.

"Hello gentlemen, how can I help you?" she asks politely.

"Hello , uh… I'm here to pick up Emily uh….. Anderson…" Blaine stutters. He only manages to get the sentence out because he can feel Isaac presence behind him, and tells himself that Isaac really is one of the best friend's anybody could ask for. The woman seems to understand how nervous Blaine, and doesn't comment on him forgetting her name, which Blaine is grateful for, considering how difficult it would be for him to explain that he forgot his own name.

"Okay, you can just go ahead and have a seat in the waiting room, one of our social workers will come and get you in just a few minutes" she says with a kind smile.

Blaine simply nods, and he and Isaac turn towards a waiting room, where an anxious couple is also waiting. Isaac sits first, and smiles at the couple, and Blaine sits next to him. They wait in silence for several minutes. Blaine can't seem to keep still, and the nerves are making him jittery. It isn't until Isaac lays a hand on his shaking knee, that Blaine realizes what he had been doing.

"Blaine, calm down. I know this is scary, but it's going to be okay. I know it's difficult to see things that way right now, but this is also a happy moment okay? You're going to meet your niece for the first time."

At that, Blaine seems to calm down a little. He hadn't seen things from this perspective, and Isaac words put his situation in a new light. He had only been focusing on the bad part of the situation, and of course, the bad part is rather horrible, with the death of his sister and the complete one-eighty his life has taken, but there is also good. He's going to meet Emily, who is his niece, for the first time.

Some minutes later, Blaine and Isaac both turn towards the same spot where they can hear the sound of heals, and after a few seconds, an Asian looking woman with kind eyes and a bright smile advances towards them.

"Blaine Anderson?" she calls, and when hearing his name, Blaine and Isaac get up, the woman turns towards them and says "Hi guys, I'm Tina, why don't you follow me to my office so we can talk a little." She then turns back, and starts walking in the opposite direction, with Blaine and Isaac following her. When they reach her office, she opens the door and says "After you" gesturing them inside. Blaine and Isaac walk inside, and Tina follows them, closing the door behind her. "Take a seat guys, sorry if we're a little tight, I was only expecting Blaine today".

"This is my friend Isaac" Blaine says "He came with me to help me with everything. I'm sorry if it wasn't okay…"

"It is completely okay" she responds with a kind smile "I understand how overwhelming this must be for you, and it's great that you have someone who is helping you through all of this." Hearing this, Blaine simply nods, reassured by her words.

"So basically, I wanted to talk to you a little before you meet Emily, to see how you were doing with this whole situation, and if you felt ready, and to tell you a little about her".

"Oh okay…" says Blaine, uncertain of what exactly he is supposed to say "I'm okay I guess. I'm not going to lie, It's a little overwhelming, but I mean, I'm excited to meet her. And, I think I'm ready, well, as ready as I can be I guess…."

"It's fine Blaine, it's completely natural to be freaked out. Honestly, I would be worried if you weren't. And I know you must be feeling anxious, with the whole situation. I think the best thing for me to tell you, is that it is going to be stressful, and hard at some times, but if it helps you, I think no parent is really ready to have a child, until they are there. Whether they have been expecting one for 9 months, or become parent from one day to the next without warning. So I can honestly say, I think you'll do fine."

Blaine can't help but doubt her words a little, but he isn't going to tell her so. He doesn't know if he'll do fine, or be a good parent, but he can say he's going to do his best to do right by this little girl, no matter how stressed and worried he is right now.

"So, before I bring you to meet her, I wanted to talk to you a little about her condition." Hearing those words, Blaine frowns. _What condition? _He thinks. Nobody had told him that she had a condition. Of course, it doesn't change the way he feels about her, or the fact that he'll take her in, it's just that he's worried about her now. Seeing his confusion, Tina rushes to reassure him.

"Oh no Blaine, don't worry, it's nothing major! Sorry, that was bad wording on my part. She's not sick or anything, you don't have to worry about her health. She's simply a little wary right now, and has been through a major trauma. Even if she is young, this had still affected her, and will probably leave a mark on her, but only time will tell how she evolves."

Blaine nods his head in understanding. The little girl is so young, and has already been through a major trauma. The loss of his sister is affecting him, but he can't even imagine how hard it must be for her, even if she is too young to understand exactly what is going on, and why she isn't with her mommy anymore.

"When the neighbor found her…" continues Tina "your sister had already been dead for several hours, and Emily had been crying next to her for a while as well. Emily is still too young to understand what happened, but kids can still feel things, and she clearly understood that something dramatic happened that night, even if she doesn't know what."

Blaine doesn't say anything, sensing that there is more coming. He knew that Emily would probably be a little traumatized when he met her, and that she wouldn't understand why she couldn't see her mom anymore, this isn't news to him. He might not be an expert with kids, but he could still grasp the fact that even children as young as Emily was have feelings, and could be perceptive at times.

"There's something else that you need to know, and I'm sorry for having to tell you this. As you might know, your sister was found dead because she had overdosed…." Tina says uncertain, but Blaine nods his head again, already knowing the fact, since the police officer had informed him on the night he came to announce his sister's death. "Well we have reason to understand that Laura might have had a problem with drugs long before her death, and with her state, she wasn't always careful with Emily" at this, Blaine's eyes pop out of his head, and he can't quite grasp what she is saying. Sure, Laura had been in a bad place the last time he saw her, but he couldn't imagine her being abusive to a child, even when under the influence of drugs. He says so to Tina, and she tries to explain:

"I don't think it was abuse per say, she wasn't violent with Emily, we just have reasons to believe that she just wasn't always careful. Emily is awfully thin for her age, and we believe she wasn't fed regularly while living with your sister. We tried feeding her the past few days and she barely ate, and wouldn't eat anything solid, when she should be starting to eat more and more of them. We also found bruises on her body, even if they were superficial ones, and…"

Blaine doesn't understand how this could've happen. The Laura he remembers would have never done that, she would have never neglected a child, and he can't believe it came to this. He understands that his sister was still unstable since their parent's death, but he can't believe she would be so careless with her daughter. He wonders how it's possible to be so sad about the death of someone, while resenting them for their actions at the same time.

"What should I do?" asks Blaine uncertainly "How should I act? I don't want to make things worse, and I want to help her, but I don't really know what I'm doing and…"

"No hey, no worries Blaine. It's a good thing that you're asking, and wanting to be good for her. The advice I can give you is to not force her to eat. She hasn't been used to eating a whole lot, so don't force her, when she seems like she isn't hungry, or has had enough. Her appetite should become larger and larger, and she should gain weight naturally, with regular meals. The other thing you should do is start to develop her motor skills, which we discovered are behind for her age. Play with her, try to feed her solid food, and let her eat with her hands if she wants to, or try giving her a fork for her to eat with. You shouldn't worry, she's young, and she'll catch up quickly. Yes, she's a little behind on some things for her age, but as I said, you shouldn't worry. Just give her time, and everything will be fine, trust me."

Blaine feels overwhelmed, and Isaac squeezes his shoulder again, to try and reassure him. He wasn't even sure he could be a parent, but now, it seems even more complicated. Not only is he going to have to be a parent, but he's going to have to step up, and fix his sister's mistakes.

"It really is going to be okay Blaine, and I'm sure you'll do great. I only told you the worse, but she's also a beautiful, smart, healthy little girl, and with time, I'm confident she'll adjust to this new living arrangement just fine. So now… are you ready to meet your niece?"

The three of them get up, and Tina walks them to another room, which she informs them is the play room. She turns towards them, just before she opens the door and lets Blaine and Isaac enter into the room. Tina walks them through the room to a place where a few children are playing with big colored blocks, and point towards a little girl in the middle. Blaine looks towards where Tina is pointing, and his breath catches in his throat when he sees his niece for the first time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Hi guys! So this is my favourite chapter so far, and I hope you enjoy it! Chapters seem to be getting longer as well, so I hope I manage to keep that up for the rest of the story!**

**I also have to tell you that updates will definitely slow down a bit, since I am doing an internship in Madrid, and my internet is horrible! But I'll try and do my best in posting regular chapters, and this story will be finished no matter what! Let me know what you think of the chapter.**

Laura. That's the first thing that comes to Blaine's mind when he sees his niece for the first time. She looks just like Laura. Emily is sitting on a mat, and playing with a big blue brick. She is surrounded by a number of other children, some of a similar age to hers, while some of them look a little older, but she doesn't seem to be playing with any of them, and seems to be in her own little world. Blaine takes a moment to really study Emily, and he notices straight away the family resemblance there is. In spite of her young age, Emily already has a mass of curly black hair which resembles his own, Blaine thinks to himself. The rest however, is all Laura. Emily has beautiful green eyes, that look so much like Laura's that they bring tears to Blaine's eyes. She also shares the same delicate traits as her mother had, with a tiny upturned nose, and pouty full lips. Now that he is looking closely, Blaine also notices a faint bruise on her cheek, and he notes that she seems to be smaller and thinner than all the kids surrounding her. He then remembers what Tina had told him about how Emily hadn't been fed regularly, and hadn't been taken proper care of, and it makes him see red. The little girl has olive skin, just like him and all the rest of her family had. Looking at her now, it would be impossible for him to miss how many features she has in common with Laura, and the rest of his family. Emily is without any doubt, an Anderson.

"I think it would be best for you to go over there and play a little with her, so that she gets used to you" Tina then says, interrupting Blaine's thoughts. "Emily doesn't really play with the other kids, and seems to keep to herself a lot, which we think is due to the fact that she's been left to occupy herself a lot since she's been born. She's a little shy, but if you go and play with her, she should warm up to you pretty quickly, so go ahead, and Isaac and I will leave you alone with her for a bit."

Hearing that, Blaine suddenly wisps his head towards Isaac, and looks at him with pleading eyes. He's not ready to be left alone with Emily. He knows he's her uncle, and she's his responsibility now, and he knows that playing with her and getting to know her before bringing her home is a smart idea, but he doesn't know what he's doing, and he isn't confident enough yet to be alone with her, what if he messes up or something? Seeing his friend's distress, Isaac smiles kindly and says "I can stay with you for a bit if you want? We can play with her together for a while."

Hearing that, Blaine nods quickly and relaxes "Thanks man, I'm just not ready to be alone with her yet…" he says hesitantly.

"It's completely natural Blaine" Tina rushes to reassure him. "Nobody expects you to suddenly be perfect with kids, and it's okay for you to want to be with someone at first. You guys can go ahead and play with her for a little then, and I'll be in my office. Or would you rather I stay with you?"

"No, I think we'll be okay" Blaine answered, smiling uncertainly. "We'll come and get you if we need anything."

"Okay then" answered Tina "I'll come by in about an hour or so okay? We can talk about all the formalities, and the paperwork after you get to know Emily".

Tina then walked away, leaving Blaine and Isaac alone in the room.

Blaine then turned again towards the little girl that was quietly playing, and he felt utterly alone. Of course, he wasn't really alone, seeing as Isaac was right next to him, they were a dozen other kids in the room, and he could see two women and a man standing a bit further away and watching the kids, but still. He couldn't help but feel as if he was alone with Emily, and he couldn't hide the fact that he was very nervous. Isaac squeezed his shoulder and said:

"Let's do this man"

So they slowly approached Emily, and when she felt a sudden presence near her, she lifted her head and looked at Blaine with curiosity. Once again, Blaine was blown away by her eyes; they really were just like Laura's. Blaine deciding that it would be better to bend down to her level to get to know her, decided to sit on the floor with his legs crossed in front of her. She followed him with her eyes, and he smiled tentatively at her. She didn't smile back, but she also didn't look uncomfortable or scared, so he counted it as a win. What was he supposed to do now? Should he speak to her? Did children her age even understand what was being said to them? Blaine felt completely lost, and again, realized he really knew nothing about kids.

"Hi Emily…" he said a bit awkwardly, figuring it couldn't hurt to talk to her, for her to get used to him. "I'm your uncle Blaine. Of course, you don't know me yet, but you will soon, and I'd love to get to know you too. So… can I play with you?"

Emily didn't answer, and was still looking at him curiously. Isaac, who was standing a little further away told Blaine that he didn't think she understood complete sentences yet, but should understand simple words. Blaine then turned to him and looked at him with wonder.

"How do you know so much about kids?" he asked curiously

"There used to be lots of kids where I lived" replied Isaac, with a defensive tone.

Blaine wondered where Isaac had lived and grew up as a kid, and why he seemed to be defensive of the question. His friend never talked about his past, and seemed uncomfortable when Blaine would bring it up or ask him questions, so despite his curiosity, Blaine decided to drop the subject as to not make Isaac uncomfortable, and focus on Emily instead. He took a big blue block of color, and put it on top of the ones Emily already had piled up, and smiled at her. She still didn't smile back, but she resumed playing, and didn't protest when he played with her. After a while, she would even give blocks to Blaine for him to pile up, and she would then knock them down. Though she never smiled, or laughed, her eyes would light up when Blaine would pretend to be grumpy and annoyed at her knocking his pile. They played together for several hours. When Emily got tired of the blocks, they moved to the miniature kitchen where Blaine pretended to eat plastic bread, and though Emily still didn't smile, she seemed to enjoy it and proceeded to give to him every plastic food she could reach. Blaine who was so focused on Emily and playing with her, didn't notice the time flying by, and when Tina came back to the room to announce that it was time for lunch, Blaine was surprised that more than 2 hours had gone by with him not noticing. From the corner of his eyes, Blaine saw Isaac high-fiving a little boy with whom he had been playing, and he smiled. While all the elder kids stood up and seemed to know where they were going, the man and two women that had been watching the kids came and picked up or held by the hand all the younger kids, and left to go towards where Blaine assumed they would all have lunch, until it was just Blaine, Isaac, Tina and Emily in the room.

Tina then approached them and smiled towards Blaine and Emily.

"Hey Emily, are you having fun?" she said with a light voice and kind smile. Emily didn't smile to Tina either, but she did seem to recognize her and let her pick her up without protesting. Tina then turned to Blaine, who had stood up, and Isaac.

"All the kids are going to have lunch, and then most of them are going to go and have their naps. How about the three of us eat with Emily and then we can put her to bed for her nap, and we can talk?"

Blaine quickly nodded, happy to be able to spend more time with his niece. He might have been terrified this morning, but now that he had had a chance to play with her, he didn't want his time with her to end yet, and wanted to keep getting to know her.

About an hour later, after they had lunch and had put Emily in her crib for her nap, the three of them were sitting in Tina's office once again.

"So Blaine" she said with a kind smile "It seems like you and Emily got on well didn't you? She looked really comfortable with you when I came back, which is really great!"

"Yeah…" answered Blaine, who couldn't help but smile thinking of the little girl. "She's really great, and so full of life! And I'm really glad she seemed to like me it's just… she never smiled or laughed, or even talk for that matter. Do you think it's because she doesn't know me yet, or…?"

Hearing that, Tina nodded knowingly, and seemed to understand instantly what Blaine was trying to say.

"You remember how I told you that Emily was a little wary, and how the trauma left a mark on her? Well, this is one of the things we think is due to her situation when we found her, or to how she was cared for before the death of your sister. Emily is a little late compared to other kids her age. It's nothing to worry about, and she's a very bright kid and full of life, as you said so yourself. But… She doesn't really smile, or laugh, and she doesn't talk yet."

"Is that something we should be worried about?" asked Blaine with concern "Is there something I should do when she comes home with me, someone we should see?"

"It's nothing worrying no, each child develops in his own way and his own time. Children her age usually already know a few vocabulary words, such as "mom", "dad", "ball", "block", etc… they also tend to be very vocal when they play, and they'll even try talking to you, even if they don't use comprehensible words yet. However, Emily doesn't seem to know words yet, and she doesn't really make any sounds when she plays, or tries to talk to people. You shouldn't be worried, however. Growing up, we think nobody really talked to Emily, and that that's the reason she doesn't know any words yet, or try to have conversation, even unintelligible ones. She should pick all of that up rather quickly though. Just talk to her when you play with her, when you feed her, all the time basically. Talk to her about what you're doing, what she's doing, and she'll start picking up words in no time. As for the smiling or laughing, you have to remember that in about a week, Emily went from her mother's house where she was left alone for several hours until the police found your sister, to here, where she's surrounded by other kids, which she obviously isn't used to, to meeting you. I think she just hasn't had time to adapt yet. But when you take her home, and she gets used to you and to her new living arrangement, she should become more comfortable and a lot less wary! She just needs some time".

Blaine nodded. It was a lot of information to process, but it also made sense. It seemed like Emily never had a stable living environment until now, and it made sense that she felt wary and uncomfortable. He just promised himself that he would do his best to provide this for her, even if he currently lived with two other college students, and didn't have a whole lot of money, he would do his best to provide a stable place where Emily could feel comfortable, a home.

"So what happens now? " Blaine asked. "Should I get to know her more before I take her or…?"

"Well, are you free until the end of the week? Because what I figured is, you could come back here every day for this week, and continue to spend time with Emily, so that you can both be more at ease with each other, and then, by this weekend, you could take her in? I know it's really fast, but legally, she does fall under your custody, so there are not a lot of legal procedures, and we're pretty packed here so…"

"No, no, it's no problem. I understand that you have enough kids her with the ones that don't have family, it's no use to keep the ones that do have a family for too long as well."

Isaac tensed a little hearing that, but neither Blaine nor Tina noticed.

"Ok great Blaine, then I guess I'll see you tomorrow, thank you for coming" Tina said, and she stood up to walk them back towards the entry way of the building.

After saying their goodbyes, Isaac and Blaine exited the building, and started walking towards the subway they had to take to get back to their apartment. Blaine could feel himself relax as they got further and further away from the building, and he felt lighter than he had in days.

"That went well didn't it?" he asked Isaac "Emily is really cute, and I wasn't too bad with her, and we have a few more days to get used to the idea before she moves in and…"

"You did great Blaine" Isaac cut him off "She already likes you, and you were really good with her. I told you you didn't have to worry, and I was right".

"Thank you Isaac" Blaine said softly "And I don't mean just for this. I mean, thank you for coming with me today, and reassuring me, and for letting her stay with us without a question. You really are a great friend."

"Well thank you Blaine Anderson, you're not such a bad friend yourself" Isaac said with a proud smile. Still, Blaine could see that the compliment had touched him, and he was really glad he had a friend like Isaac, so he let the smug tone pass without teasing his friend for this time.

A few days later find Blaine with Emily in his arms standing in front of his apartment. As planned, Blaine had gone to see Emily for the rest of the week, one more time with Isaac, and then the two last times alone. Emily seemed to be a little more comfortable with him now, and while she still didn't smile, she now crawled straight towards Blaine when she saw him enter the room, and seemed to enjoy spending time with him, as much as he enjoyed spending some with her. Today was Friday, and when Blaine left the orphanage earlier, he had taken Emily with him after signing some papers, instead of leaving alone like he had done for the past few days. Isaac had come with him to get Emily, and take the subway with him so he wasn't alone with her, be he now had had to go to work, and Blaine was alone with her. He found his keys, and entered his apartment, while still carrying Emily with one arm, and a bag with her stuff on his other shoulder. He didn't know if Kurt would be there, so he looked tentatively around the apartment to check. He had told the man today would be the day he would bring Emily home, but he didn't know how the man would react, of if he would show himself today. Once inside the apartment, Blaine put Emily on the floor, and gave her a few of her toys to play with. Looking around the apartment, Blaine realized that he would soon have to go and buy some stuff for her. Him and Isaac had childproofed the apartment yesterday, but he hadn't had any time to go shopping, and he'll need some things for her, like a high chair, or a crib, etc… While Emily played quietly (she still didn't talk or use words at all now, though she did use a little more noises when she played), Blaine walked towards the table in the living room to put Emily's bag down, and was surprised to find some baby food and a pack of diapers that hadn't been there this morning when he and Isaac had left the apartment. Seeing them, Blaine realized that Kurt must have bought them while he and Isaac were away, and the thought touched him a lot. The fact that Kurt had gone out of his way to buy these, and had remembered that Emily would be coming today really impressed and pleased Blaine. Suddenly, Blaine heard a noise behind him, and he turned around, hearing a door opening.

"Oh, Hi." Said Kurt quietly when he entered the apartment "I wasn't sure you guys would be back already."

"Hi" answered Blaine, with an awkward nod towards Kurt "Thanks for these." He said pointing to the food and diapers. Kurt only nodded in response, and after hanging his coat near the entry door, he slowly approached Emily, and crouched down in front of her.

"And you must be Emily; it's nice to meet you princess." Kurt said with a soft tone Blaine had never heard him use before. The words and the tone surprised Blaine to no end, but then he reminded himself that he didn't really know Kurt all that way. Maybe the man was horrendous with adults, but an actual decent human being with children. Blaine then felt guilty when he reminded himself of the way Kurt had been since he learned the news about the death of his sister. They might still not get along great, but the small quiet gestures really did mean a lot to Blaine, and he felt grateful towards the man, even if it was an unusual feeling for him to have towards Kurt. Blaine's thought were cut off when Kurt got back up.

"You should put her to bed soon, her eyes are drooping closed as we speak" he said as he walked towards his bedroom, and closed the door behind him.

_Yes, I should_, thought Blaine. It really had been a long day for both of them, and Blaine could imagine how tired the little girl was. He proceeded to quickly heat up some food that Kurt had bought, and fed Emily while the little girl was sitting on his knees. After he fed her, he laid down a blanket on the table, and proceeded to change Emily's diaper, which he managed to do after only three tries at it, which he was kind of proud of. Once the little girl was changed, and in a pair of pajamas that he had brought with her stuff, he brought her to his bedroom, and laid her down on his bed, while she would be sleeping until he brought a crib for her. He surrounded her with cushions to be sure that she wouldn't fall off the bed, and quietly left the bedroom.

Once outside the bedroom, he stood here for a while. What should he do now? He hadn't had a moment to himself for a week, had always had something to occupy his thoughts. He had to think of Emily, and what he should do, and how her first day alone with him would go. But now that it was done, he found himself at a loss as to what to do. He suddenly felt really tired physically and emotionally. It had been an exhausting week, and he could feel the weight of it of his shoulders right now. Suddenly, thoughts of Laura came crashing down to him, and he felt overwhelmed with feelings. Since learning the news about his sister's death, Blaine hadn't had a moment to himself, and he hadn't allowed himself to think about her, unless it was related to Emily. He hadn't allowed himself to grieve for his sister, and now all the feelings he had repressed were suddenly all surfacing. As he started crying softly, Blaine wondered how it was possible to love and hate someone at the same time. He hated his sister for the way she had treated Emily, but he couldn't help but miss her and he loved her so much. The realization that he was now really a parent to Emily because his sister was dead hit him, and he stood there crying in the middle of his living room.

A few seconds later, the door to Kurt's room opened and the man found his roommate crying without a sound, with his head hung low, and he looked so sad and defeated.

"Blaine…" Kurt said tentatively, and hearing the voice of his roommate, Blaine lifted his head towards Kurt, but couldn't stop the tears flowing down his face, and he felt his face crumple. Kurt felt at a loss as to what he should do, but he slowly approached Blaine. The man was still crying, and even if Kurt didn't always like him, he couldn't stand to see someone in pain that way. Understanding that the weight of everything was now falling onto Blaine, Kurt tentatively hugged the man to try and comfort him. Blaine was surprised when he felt arms surrounding him at first, but his pain, his loss, was too great for him to try and process that for now. Everything that had happened in the last week came back to Blaine, and he started clinging to Kurt, and crying in earnest. Suddenly, Blaine's legs gave up, and him and Kurt found themselves sitting on the floor with Blaine still clinging to Kurt and sobbing, while Kurt tried to reassure and comfort him. It didn't matter that they didn't like each other, or didn't particularly know each other, Blaine was allowing himself to cry for the first time this week, was allowing himself to finally grieve his sister, and Kurt sat there holding him and would stay there for as long as it took.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Hi guys! So I'm sorry this update was a little longer to come than the others. I can't really say that it will get better, seeing as real life has started again (and oh how I miss vacation time)! But I promise I'll try to post at least one chapter a week. Enjoy that one, and don't hesitate to comment or come talk to me on tumblr! :D**

The next morning, Blaine lied in bed for a while after he woke up. He had woken up unusually early, and Emily was still sleeping in the bed next to him. He turned towards her to look at the little girl, who was so peaceful in her sleep. Watching her now, he couldn't believe she had already been through so much, and even if she wouldn't remember what happened as she grew up, Blaine was afraid that it would always unconsciously be with her. Seeing her in his bed this way reminded Blaine that he should probably go and buy furniture and other stuff for her. She couldn't sleep in his bed forever, and she would surely need all kind of things. He was once again hit by how unprepared he was for this situation, as he had no idea what you had to buy for a child this small. However, before he had time to panic, he figured he could always do some research later, or he could ask Isaac, since the man seemed to know a lot more than he did about kids. Blaine knew he was unprepared for this, and was still hurting from the loss of his sister, after having really acknowledged her death for the first time last night. However, he decided that he couldn't afford to question himself all the time. Emily relied on him now, and he had to put her needs before his. She didn't need her uncle and her last living relative to crumble under uncertainness and sadness, she needed him to be strong and keep going for the both of them, which Blaine vowed he would do. Sure, he wouldn't always be perfect at this, he would probably mess up, and make mistakes, but right now, he was all Emily had, so he would do his best, and hope everything turned out for the better. Thinking about the loss of his sister, Blaine couldn't help but think back at last night, how he had acted and more surprisingly, how Kurt had acted. He still couldn't believe that Kurt had actually held him for several hours on the floor, without complaining. He couldn't believe the words of reassurance Kurt had murmured in his ear, even if he realized they were just the polite thing to do in that moment, he had thought the man hated him. Never would he have imagined that Kurt would be the one to hold him when everything finally fell apart. And Blaine knew it eventually would all fall apart. He hadn't taken the time the grieve his sister, being thrown into the whole Emily situation, but Blaine sadly now had experience with grief, and he knew that he always took a few days to process everything, before eventually falling down completely. He just hadn't anticipated that it would be in front of Kurt, of that the man would be so… _kind_, a word he never in a million years would have linked to Kurt before last night. Blaine felt like he should feel ashamed about how he had acted last night in front of Kurt, he should feel embarrassed about how he had cried for several hours and had been clinging to the man. However, the feeling just wasn't present. Maybe it was because Kurt hadn't even shown an ounce of judgment last night. When Blaine had calmed down last night, he had been afraid that the man would now despise him even more, and would see him as being weak; however, the opposite had happened. When Blaine had calmed down, Kurt had been nothing but kind to him. He had stood up and helped Blaine stand up as well, he had asked the curly-haired man if he would be okay, he had even asked if Blaine wanted him to stay with him for the night. _Uh,_ Blaine thought, _I guess the guy has a heart after all. _The events of the previous night gave Blaine some hope that maybe his relationship with Kurt would improve; maybe they could try to be, if not friends, at least civil with each other. With that optimistic thought in mind, Blaine decided to get up and prepare a bottle for Emily who would undoubtedly be hungry when she woke up, and some coffee for him and maybe some for Kurt as well.

Blaine had been up for a while, and had had time to drink his coffee, and feed a now awake Emily, and Kurt had yet to come out of him bedroom. Still, Blaine didn't let this faze him, and just played with Emily while he waited for Kurt to get up and maybe get the chance to talk with the man a little. When Kurt woke up however, things didn't go as Blaine had planned at all. The man walked out of his bedroom already dressed, and ready to leave the apartment, and when he saw Blaine and Emily sitting on the floor playing, he barely spared them a glance and simply nodded courtly towards them. Blaine couldn't help but feel disappointed and a little angry at his reaction. He had thought that after last night, he and Kurt could finally be friends, and that they had passed a certain milestone in their relationship. He had thought that they could at least be friendly towards each other, if not friends. He had apparently, been wrong.

"So it's back to being cold and distant now is it? Let's just pretend last night never happened, and ignore pathetic Blaine once again" Blaine couldn't help but say with a bitter tone.

The words made Kurt stop in his path to the door, and the man slowly turned towards Blaine.

"Excuse me?" he asked in a rather condescending tone, if you asked Blaine.

"You heard me Kurt. You had one night where you were actually a decent human being, and now you're back to being a robot. You can't be decent more than once in a blue moon, or you'll actually turn to stone or something?" he asked disdainfully.

"Look, because you've just been through so much, and I understand that you might not completely be yourself right now, I'm going to ignore your words and the judgment you just passed so easily on me, without even knowing me. I'm going to ignore it just this once." Kurt said with an icy tone, and his words actually made Blaine cringe. "I am sorry for your loss Blaine, however, what happened last night doesn't make us friends. We still don't like each other, and we don't need to pretend like we do just because I was a, how did you put it? Ah yeah, a decent human being for once". And with these words, Kurt made his way to the door and banged the door when he left the apartment. Blaine instantly felt bad for his words. He had been marveling about how Kurt hadn't judged him at all last night, and there he was, judging Kurt harshly at the first occasion he had. Yes, he had only said what he said because he was disappointed in Kurt's reaction, and had hoped that they could be friends, but that didn't make what he said okay, and it didn't give him permission to talk that way to Kurt. He then turned to Emily, who was still playing quietly with a toy xylophone Isaac had bought for her last night, _one mistake down, ten thousands to go_, he thought to himself. _What a great way to start the day_.

The rest of the day however, went in a far better manner. Isaac had woken up, and he and Blaine had played and taken care of Emily for the entire day. Blaine now realized that the internet was his new best friend. Each time they had a doubt about how to take care of Emily, how many baby food do you need to put in a bottle, is it hygienic for a baby to chew his own feet, how warm should the water for the bath be, how do you change a diaper, etc… They would search on the internet, and manage to find an answer. Most of the time, Isaac would be the one looking things up, while Blaine took care of Emily, he was determined to learn how to do all of this stuff, and he figured he had to learn these things now, even if Isaac who had more experience with kids offered to do it. Blaine was determined in being the best he could be for Emily, and he would master how to put this bloody diaper on, even if it killed him with its horrid smell. Throughout the day, Blaine also realized that Emily was acting in an unusual way; at least what he thought was an unusual way, even if he didn't know much about babies. Indeed, the little girl seems to be observing everything around her with curious eyes, like it's the first time she is seeing those things. The little girl still didn't make a sound, she didn't even cry, which Blaine thought was the most worrying thing of all. He didn't know much, but he knew that babies were supposed to cry, and even Isaac agreed with Blaine, and thought it was a little strange. Another thing his niece would do is whenever Blaine got up to go and get something in the kitchen or anything; she would stop playing and follow him with his eyes wherever he went. It was as if she was afraid that he would suddenly disappear, and it broke Blaine's heart a little. He wondered how often she must have been left alone for her to survey her surroundings and scrutinize his every movement the way she was currently doing. He hoped that as she got more comfortable, and felt more at home here, she would learn to relax and wouldn't feel the need to check where Blaine was at all times. He hoped that she would soon learn and understand that she was no longer alone, and that he wasn't going to disappear, like her mother had. Blaine had also noticed that Emily would sometimes look around the room, as if expecting her mother to suddenly come out of nowhere, and every time she did it, Blaine could feel a little bit of his heart falling off. He realized that it was probably unconscious, and that Emily wouldn't remember Laura as she grew up, but it didn't change the fact that she was missing her mother right now, no matter how awful Laura might have been with her. In those moments, Blaine doubled his efforts with the crazy faces, and the games to try and take Emily's mind out of what was going on, and try to ground her to the present and to her new life with him.

Several hours later, Isaac had had to leave for work and was long gone, and Blaine was quietly reading one of the Harry Potter books to Emily. He realized that the little girl didn't understand anything of what he was saying, and that it probably wasn't a very appropriate book for a girl her age, but it was the best he had for the moment, and Tina had said that the little girl needed to get used to hearing people talk, and that talking and reading to her would improve her language skills. Blaine added to his mental list of things to buy to buy some books, but in the mean time, this would do. He was sitting on the couch in their living room, and Emily was sitting on his lap and leaning completely against his torso, which he wasn't ashamed to say, completely melted his heart. She was playing with one of the black curls on her head, and she was so focused on the book that it looked like she could read the words herself. After about 20 minutes of quite reading, Emily started to fidget on his knees, and Blaine realized she was fed up with reading, and she wanted to go back to her toys and play. Blaine put her on the floor so that she could drag herself towards her toys, and he closed the book without bothering to save the page, seeing as Emily had no idea of where they had arrived in the book, and that Harry had just met Mr. Oliver to buy his wand. He swore in this moment, that as soon as this kid was old enough to understand, he would read the Harry Potter books to her, and introduce her to the marvelous world created by J.K Rowling.

Blaine had been playing with Emily for about 30 minutes, when he heard a key in the lock, and Kurt opened the door and entered the apartment. He barely spared a glance towards Blaine, and walked straight towards the kitchen. The action reminded Blaine how their argument this morning, and of how he had acted, and Blaine decided to apologize to Kurt for being so judgmental, and if he was honest with himself, for being kind of a dick to Kurt. He stood up quietly, and after making sure that Emily was safely playing, made his way tentatively towards their kitchen, he could once again feel Emily following him with her eyes, and turned towards her to smile and wink at her, showing the little girl that he was still there, and wasn't going to disappear. Kurt had his back turned to Blaine, and didn't turn around when he heard Blain clear his throat, which Blaine figured he kind of deserved.

"Look Kurt…" he said tentatively. "I wanted to apologize for what I said this morning." Hearing those words, Kurt turned slowly towards Blaine, but said nothing and kept a blank face, which meant Blaine was unable to read Kurt's reaction to his words. He decided to pursue, and hoped Kurt would react well. "You were right, I had no right to say what I did, and I don't really know you, so I have to right to pass a judgment like I did. You were really kind last night, and I repaid you by being a jer…. A mean man" he corrected, remembering the proximity of Emily in the room. The last thing he wanted was for her to learn how to swear because of him. He winced and turned to her to check on her, and after he saw that the little girl was still playing softly, while she looked up towards him every few seconds to check he was still there, he turned back towards Kurt, and he could have sworn that he saw an almost smile on the man's lips. His face quickly turned back to impassive however, and Blaine wasn't quite sure if he hadn't just imagines the smile. He pursued his apology:

"I really appreciate everything you've done, and I am really sorry for the way I reacted this morning. I have had a rough few weeks, but that isn't an excuse to treat you poorly, and I apologize for that."

Kurt seemed to consider his words for a few seconds, and after a while, he simply nodded to Blaine and said "Okay". While the reaction wasn't anything big, Blaine realized that this was all he was going to get, and that it meant that Kurt had heard him and accepted his apology somehow. This made what Blaine had to ask a little easier, even if he was still hesitant, seeing how he had acted in the morning.

"And Kurt…" hearing his name again, the man turned back towards Blaine "This is going to sound like I apologized only for this, which I totally didn't by the way, I genuinely am sorry, but well, I can't hold it anymore and...Do you think you could watch Emily for a bit? It's just, I really need to go to the bathroom, I have been holding it for like an hour, because I don't know if you are supposed to leave kids that young alone while you go to the bathroom, and I didn't want her to think she was alone, and I havn't had a chance to shower all day, and I would really apprecia…"

"Blaine" Kurt cut off his rant. "It's okay, go to the bathroom, I'll watch Emily while you… do what you have to do" he said, and Blaine swore there was that almost smile again. However, he didn't comment on it, and decided to rush to the bathroom, because he really couldn't hold it anymore.

"Thank you, I'll be 15 minutes tops!" he said while he rushed to the bathroom. He missed how Kurt shook his head at his antics while walking to go and sit on front of Emily to occupy her, while her uncle was doing his business.

Once Blaine was in the shower, he gave himself a few moments to think. Maybe he still wasn't friends with Kurt, and his relationship with the man was still stranded at best, but he was glad that he had apologized, even if Kurt's reaction hadn't been all that enthusiastic. He knew that the man had accepted his apology and even if he was still distant towards Blaine, maybe their relationship would actually improve with time, and they actually would become friends one day. In the mean time, Blaine decided not to force things anymore and that if him and Kurt were to become friends one day, it would come naturally. He enjoyed his first time alone since the beginning of the day, and despite what he had told Kurt, he decided to take his time in the shower, to try and relax. He already loved Emily, and loved spending time with her. He had only known her for a week, and he already felt so close to her and she often melted her heart, but he couldn't hide the fact that parenthood was hard, and that he was exhausted. As much as he loved Emily, it was good to have a few minutes to himself, where he could just relax under the warm water. After about 20 minutes in the shower however, he decided that he had imposed on Kurt enough, and should probably get out and go back to Emily. He dressed himself quickly with the clothes he had prepared previously, in the hope that Kurt would accept to take care of Emily for a few minutes, and made his way out of the bathroom quietly.

The sight that greeted him when he came out of the bathroom however, took his breath away in a way that was so unexpected. Kurt was sitting on the floor, and was playing with Emily, tickling her and talking to her in a sweet voice that Blaine had never heard before and amazed him. Kurt was so focused on Emily, that he didn't hear Blaine come back into the room, and was now blowing raspberries on Emily's stomach. When the little girl grabbed Kurt's hair and kicked her feet enthusiastically, Kurt let out a loud laugh, and he whole face lit up with it. The sight of Kurt laughing and playing with his niece was amazing and brought the first huge smile on Blaine's face since his sister had passed away. Blaine realized that he had never once heard or seen Kurt laugh before, and that the man truly was beautiful while doing so .


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delay! I know it's been a while, and I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but I wanted to get it out there. I hope you guys still enjoy it!**

A few weeks later found Blaine quietly thinking about everything that had happened lately and what his life had become while playing with Emily in their living room. Thinking of the past month, Blaine couldn't believe that so much had changed. A month ago, he was a college student on summer break, about to start his last year of college, which would then allow him to become a music teacher, the job he has always dreamed of doing. A month ago, he thought he still had years in front of him before he became a father. He thought he would meet a guy he loved, and if they chose to do so, would have kids around the time they were in their thirties. Instead, here he was, 22 years old, and raising a beautiful little girl, of whom he was now the legal guardian. _Life really had a funny way of working out_ Blaine thought to himself. Now that a few weeks had passed and the novelty has worn off, everyone seemed to have adapted pretty well to their new situation. Blaine was adapting well to fatherhood, and he could now change a diaper in under a minute (which his nose was often thankful for) and prepare a bottle in his sleep. Isaac was adapting well to his role of uncle, which he had determined that was what he would be a few days ago. He loved spending time with Emily, and his knowledge about children which Blaine still had no idea where it came from, had turned-out being a life-saver many times. When Blaine would find himself freaking out, which he was a little ashamed to admit had happened once or twice since Emily had come to live with them, Isaac would always be there for Blaine, and his reassuring words would often be what managed to calm Blaine down. As for Kurt, Blaine still couldn't quite believe how he was acting. After the first time where he had watched Emily while Blaine showered, he had told Blaine that he should ask him any time he needed someone to babysit Emily. The sentence had surprised Blaine almost as much as the scene he had walked in when he had come out of his shower. Since then, Blaine had to admit that Kurt was amazing with Emily. While the little girl seemed to enjoy spending time with her uncle Isaac, she absolutely loved spending time with Kurt, and the man was wonderful with her. Kurt would play for hours with her, and one time, Blaine had walked in on Kurt showing her one of his fashion magazines, and Emily being completely absorbed by the images she was seeing. Both of them had seemed so comfortable with each other and at peace, that Blaine had entered quietly in the apartment and just watched them be for a few minutes. The one person however, who seemed to be adapting the best of all, which still pleased Blaine to no end, was Emily. From just the few weeks Emily had been living with them, Blaine could already see the difference in how the little girl was acting. While Emily still didn't talk or try to communicate with them very much, she would now let out these little pleased sounds when one of them was playing with her, and she would babble quietly when she was playing by herself. Tina, the social worker, had told Blaine that she would eventually start trying to communicate more and make more sounds as Emily felt more comfortable in her new environment, and Blaine had worried that it might never happen. Hearing his niece babble and shriek with joy always brought a huge smile to Blaine's face, and was the confirmation that bringing Emily to live with him, even if he lived in a small apartment with two flat mates, had been the right decision. The change that pleased Blaine most of all however, was her smile. The first time Emily had smiled, it had brought actual tears to Blaine's eyes, and the man has discovered that Emily had the same smile as her mother. It was actually the first time that Blaine could think of how similar Emily and Laura looked, and not feel any pain. Blaine had been changing Emily's diaper, and he had been talking to her and tickling her the first time it happened. When Emily had let out her almost toothless smile, Blaine had felt his heart melt and fallen completely in love with the little girl. Since this day, Emily had been smiling a lot more, and the first time she had directed her smile at Kurt, Blaine couldn't help smiling goofily when he saw the pleased shocked look on the man's face.

"Hey baby girl" said Blaine, coming out of his thoughts. "I think it's time for a nice long nap Okay? That way, you can sleep a little, and maybe Dadd… Uncle Blaine can have just a little time for himself. And when you wake up, I promise you we will have so much fun eating purée, and we will finally know what Harry Potter's house will be , okay baby girl?" Blaine could feel himself blushing at his almost slip up, even though no one was there to witness it, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed as he picked up Emily to prepare her for her nap. Blaine had found himself thinking of himself as Emily's dap quite a few times now, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty about it. It felt as if by saying he was Emily's dad, he would take up his sister's place and replace her. Still, he didn't know how to define who he was to the little girl. Emily had never known her mother, and while Blaine would never lie to her about the fact that he was her uncle and who her mother was, he didn't know if Uncle Blaine was really who he wanted to be for the little girl. With these thoughts in mind, he carried Emily who was now in small green pajamas to her cot in Blaine's room. The room was now part his, and part nursery, which Blaine knew wasn't the ideal situation, but would have to work for now, as they didn't have any extra rooms in the apartment. Looking around the room, Blaine couldn't help but smile as the memory of shopping for furniture flashed over to his mind.

_It had been quite an adventure. A few days after Emily had been living with them, Isaac had decided that they had to go shopping, as Emily would need to furniture, and couldn't sleep in Blaine's bed forever. With that thought in mind, the two men had dressed up Emily to go out, and after figuring out how to attach the baby sling to Blaine's front and putting Emily in it, which had took about half an hour in itself with both Blaine and Isaac working on it, they had finally all gone out and gone to Ikea for some well-needed furniture. The trip to the shop and their stay in the shop would forever stay marked into Blaine's memories as one of the best days of his life so far. Emily was watching everything with such curiosity that Blaine smiled softly when he looked at her. In the subway, Emily had avidly watched everyone around her, and seemed to charm everyone with the way she couldn't stop smiling while Blaine was trying to shelter her in the crowded subway. One they arrived in the store, the same thing had happened, and Emily seemed to be enthralled by all the colors and funny objects that could be found in the shop. She was looking everywhere around her, and smiling at everything. Seeing her curiosity and pleasure, Isaac and Blaine had then spent hours running around in the shop to show Emily around, and the little girl seemed to love it. When her eyes had fallen on a blue monkey, Emily had seemed so amazed by the stuffed animal that Blaine had decided to buy it for her. After spending the day showing all sorts of crazy objects to a smiling Emily, and laughing until he had tears in his eyes with Isaac, Blaine, Emily and her uncle finally had everything they needed and after paying to have all the heavy furniture such as the cot, delivered to their apartment, they made their way out of the shop. Blaine's happy thoughts as he left the shop however, became clouded when he thought about why Emily had acted the way she had in the shop. Seeing her behavior, Blaine wondered how often Emily had gone when Laura was alive. Seeing the state Emily was in when the police had found her, how skinny she was and the bruises that had now faded, but were all on her body when she had moved in with Blaine, he didn't have a lot of hope for Laura taking her daughter out very often. It still pained him to think of how his sister had treated her own daughter, but there was nothing he could do about it now, and he had decided that the Laura that had acted that way with Emily, was the not the same girl he had been raised with. When their parents had died, a part of Laura had died at the same time, and the woman who had treated Emily this way wasn't really his sister, not the one he remembered and loved at least. Still, it was in these moments that he felt rage at his sister's behavior, and he once again vowed to do better. Seeing Emily's reaction to being in a shop, Blaine could only imagine how she would react to discovering a big park such as Central Park for instance, and he promised himself to bring her out there as soon as he had the time to do so. Imagining Emily's reactions to the leaves, dogs, and squirrels around the park brought a smile back to Blaine's face, and he buried his dark thought. Emily was fine now, she was doing better, and she was a happy little girl. _

After having put Emily down in her bed, Blaine quietly exited the bedroom and started picking up her toys to put them away in the pink and green basket they had in the living room for all of her toys. Life had settled down, and after the few weeks taking care of Emily, Blaine had now settled down into a routine with the little girl which he loved. Still, summer break would be ending soon, and Blaine had to figure out what he would do. He had thought about registering Emily to a daycare, so he could manage to still go to classes, and pick her up in the evenings, but he didn't really feel comfortable with this situation. Emily was still settling down in their home, and he didn't want to upset her by introducing her to a new foreign environment, and risk every improvement she had made recently. He had then thought about hiring a nanny that would come during the day and take care of Emily, but finding a good one was very hard to do, especially one that would come in the middle of New York to babysit a kid in a student apartment. Plus, Blaine didn't feel comfortable leaving Emily with a stranger, at least not yet. So the only solution Blaine had found was to quit college, at least for now. He had enough money left from his parent's life insurances that he had never really needed to go in the first place, he had just always really wanted to. And if he didn't finish college; that meant all of his dreams of becoming a music teacher were out the window. Still, it was the only solution he could see, seeing as he couldn't trust Emily with strangers yet. The door suddenly opened interrupting his thought, and Isaac and Kurt came barging in the apartment, both smiling. Though Blaine had a hard time understanding it, Kurt and Isaac were great friends, and they seemed to share a special bond, and enjoyed spending time together. Isaac seemed to be able to manage Kurt when he was in a foul mood, and Kurt always seemed to be able to reassure Isaac and comfort him when Isaac had panic attacks. Blaine didn't know how these two met, but he knew that the bond between them was deep, and he envied them a little. Even if Isaac was without a doubt, one of his best friends, there was still a lot he didn't know about the young man, and he was sure Kurt knew a lot more. Seeing his dark face, Isaac turned towards Blaine and asked:

"Why the long face B? And where is my sweet Emily?"

"She's sleeping for the moment; she just went down for her nap. And it's nothing, I was just thinking about school starting back soon, and about what I should do" Blaine said, while sitting down at the table in the middle of their living room.

"What do you mean what you should do?" asked Isaac sitting down in front of Blaine, while Kurt went off to the kitchen.

"Well, classed are starting back in around a week, and I think I'm going to have to quit, or at least, postpone classes for a bit" Seeing Isaac frown, he rushed to explain "I know it isn't the smartest decision, but it's the only one I can see. I don't really feel comfortable leaving Emily with strangers yet, so daycare is out of the question. And it's impossible to find a good Nanny at this time of the year, so yeah, that leaves me… I really don't see what else I can do, and while I really wished I could finish my degree, Emily comes first now, and she's already been through enough, I don't want to be upset again. So If I have to sacrifice college, at least for now, then that's what I'll do".

Isaac was looking at Blaine sadly, and Kurt that had come back from the kitchen sometime during Blaine's rant was sitting next to Isaac and looked thoughtful. He still pointed towards the mug of coffee, he poured coffee, and Blaine was surprised to see a mug pushed in his direction. He took a taste of the coffee and was even more surprised to see it was exactly the way he liked it, with a bit of milk and sugar. It seemed that Kurt had been paying enough attention to his flat mate to notice how he took his coffee, which surprised Blaine.

"Maybe you don't have to quit" he said quietly, interrupting Blaine's thoughts. Blaine opened his mouth to explain his reasoning once more, but before he had the time, Kurt continued speaking, while looking at him with a serious look on his face. "I understand why you wouldn't want to leave Emily with more people she doesn't know and in a foreign environment, I think it's a reasonable decision and a smart choice, however, Isaac and I aren't strangers."

Hearing this, Blaine didn't really understand where Kurt was going with this. He barely registered that Kurt had technically just said that he was smart, and kept looking at Kurt, waiting for him to continue his train of thought. Seeing Blaine's perplexed face, Kurt continued to explain.

"What I mean is that, we have to pick out classes this week. And there are three of us, if we play this way, and with our eclectic schedules, I'm pretty sure we can make it so at least of one us is in the apartment at all times. So while the other two are in classes, there will always be one of us to look after Emily." Kurt explained quietly.

Isaac had a big smile on his face, and he nodded enthusiastically "Yeah, that's a great idea! The three of us could watch her! Kind of like a shared custody you know? Even though none of us are her parents, and we obviously aren't divorced and…"

"Yeah Isaac, we get it" said Kurt in an incredibly fond tone.

As for him, Blaine was still astonished by what Kurt had just offered. It's true that this solution seemed ideal. Emily wouldn't be left with strangers, and would instead always be with one of the men that she knew and already loved, and Blaine would be able to take classes, and still get his degree at the end of the year. The solution was perfect, but what Blaine didn't understand was why Kurt was accepting it, or ever more, how he was the one offering it.

"Why are you helping me? Why would you be willing to do that? It's not like you owe us anything, somehow, I have a hard time understanding why you, of all people, are offering to do this." Blaine asked seriously. He didn't mean to be offensive, but he didn't understand, it wasn't as if Kurt liked him, why would he help him with this. Hearing Blaine's answer, Kurt's face closed off, and he said "Look Blaine, I know we're not friends and we don't always get along, but I respect what you're doing for Emily. You don't know how better off she is with you, and what you're doing for her is more than she could have expected, even if she doesn't know it yet. So I'm offering a solution that will allow you to still go to college, and for Emily to be taken care of. Now, if you don't want to accept it, or you don't trust me with Emily or whatever, then that's your choice, it was just an idea." With that being said, he stood up and walked up to his room.

"Wait Kurt, that isn't what I meant…" but Kurt just cut him off and entered his room.

"Yeah, whatever".

Blaine turned back towards Isaac, who was still sitting at the table and looking disapprovingly at Blaine.

"This isn't what I meant" tried to explain the curly haired boy. "I didn't mean that I don't trust you and Kurt with Emily, of course I do, and I didn't want to sound ungrateful or anything, I just don't understand why he's offering to do this."

Isaac sighed loudly, and after looking thoughtfully towards Kurt's closed door, he looked at Blaine with a determined face, having come to a decision.

"Look, I never wanted to say anything about this, and I won't tell you the whole story, seeing as it's Kurt's story to tell, but I feel that without you knowing, you two might never understand each other. I never told you how I met Kurt, did I?"

Blaine shook his head quietly in response to Isaac's question. He couldn't believe he was about to learn more about Isaac and Kurt's friendship, and maybe about the man he had such a hard time understanding.

"My mother died when I was six years old" started explaining Isaac, and when Blaine opened his mouth to apologize or say something, Isaac interrupted him "Don't apologize, I just need to tell you this story, and it isn't a happy one, so it's hard for me to do. But I know that you, of all people will understand." Hearing this, Blaine nodded quietly, and decided not to interrupt Isaac until he was done with his story. "As I was saying, she died from cancer when I was six, and for a while, we were fine. I still had my brother, and my father. However, things soon turned to shit. My brother registered for the army, and he was deported to Afghanistan. A few months after being deported, he died. My father and I were devastated. We were losing a second person in only a year of time, and I was losing my big brother, the one I looked up to. After my brother's death, my father completely lost it. He wasn't the same loving person I knew, he was a different man, one that…" Isaac paused, and swallowed with difficulty, while Blaine's breath caught, beginning to understand where this story was going. He put his hand on his friend's, and squeezed to show his support. Isaac squeezed back, and continued with his story. "He started to beat me. At first, it wasn't a lot, only one or two times a week, when he was sad, but after a while, it was more and more frequent. He started to do it every day, and it started to show. People at school were beginning to notice how often I was bruised, and he did it so much that one time, a teacher from my school understood what was going on, and she reported him. After that, my father was sent to jail, and I was sent to social services." Blaine was looking at the table with tears in his eyes, he didn't know what to say to his friend, couldn't believe the shy boy had been few so much, though it explained his behavior and occasional panic attacks.

"This is where I met Kurt" Isaac continued, interrupting Blaine's thoughts. "I won't tell you how he got there and why, this is his story to tell, and maybe if you and him learn to get along, he'll tell you himself one day. I don't even have the whole story I think. But anyway, we stayed in the same orphanage for many years. I was 8 years old when I arrived, and he was 10 years old, I don't know for how long he had been there. I had a hard time adapting to the place, I was still scared around people because of what my father had done, and the boys in there can be brutal sometimes. I was a little broken, and Kurt was the one that put me back together. He took me under his wing, and he protected me when the other boys were mean to me. I know he seems cold sometimes, but he had a heart of gold under his icy façade, and I hope one day you get to see it."

Blaine whipped his head up, hearing that not only Isaac, but also Kurt had both dealt with social services before, and had lived in an orphanage like the one Emily was in before they took her in. This explained the deep bond between them, they had known each other for a long time, and had been through a lot together. This explained why Kurt was always able to calm Isaac down when he was having an attack, and why Isaac was able to put a smile to Kurt's face when the man was in a dark mood.

"When Kurt says he respects what you're doing, it's so much more that what you imagine. He knows what Emily could be going through right now, he knows that if him and me had had someone like you in our life, we wouldn't have had to grow up in an orphanage, and because of that, he not only respects you, but I think he admires you a little. This is why he is offering to help, this is why he will always be there for Emily. And if you let him in Blaine? You'll discover how amazing of a person he can be. Trust me, I know how much of a bitch he can be sometimes, and I don't know why when you first moved him he acted the way he did with you, but if you and him become friends, he won't only always be there for Emily, he'll be there for you as well."

Hearing these words, Blaine couldn't help the tears that pooled into his eyes. He got up, and pulled his best friend into a tight hug. "I know saying this doesn't really make a difference, but I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this. Both you and Kurt. And thank you for sharing the story with me. I love you Isaac, and I want you to know, that whatever happened in your past, you have a family now. You have me, and Kurt and your adorable niece, Emily, okay?"

Isaac smiled softly at Blaine's speech, and nodded. Soon after the conversation, he announced he was going to bed, the emotional conversation having exhausted him. Blaine sat there for a while, and he thought about what Isaac had said to him. While this didn't explain why Kurt didn't like him when he first moved in, it explained so much about his behavior, why he didn't trust people, and especially all of his reactions with Emily. And now, Blaine had basically made it sound like he didn't trust him with his niece, and had offended the man, after he had been nothing but kind towards Emily, and his proposition was amazing. Deciding to make it up to Kurt, Blaine went to the kitchen to prepare a cup of hot chocolate, which he had noticed was Kurt's go to drink when he was sad, and he made his way to Kurt's room and knocked softly. When Kurt opened the door, he gave him the mug, and smiled shyly. Kurt took it, and looked at Blaine wearily.

"I wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to offend you, or to insult you, I trust you a 100% with Emily, and I know she adores you and you're amazing with her. It was never my intention to insult you, I just wanted to understand why you were offering this, because it's huge… However, if the proposition is still on the table, I would love to take you up on it."

Kurt sighed softly and took a sip of his hot chocolate. "Blaine, I know we aren't friends, but I understand Emily's situation more than you know, which I'm guessing Isaac explained to you." At this, Blaine looks ashamedly on the floor, not knowing if Kurt would be mad with him knowing. "It's okay, I don't blame him for having told you, or you for knowing. At least now, you understand. And yes, the proposition is still up, if you want to."

Hearing this, Blaine frowned a little.

"Kurt, why do you always insist on the fact that we're not friends and we don't get along? I mean, it's true, we didn't, but maybe we could now. I'm sorry if I ever did something to offend you when I moved in, I apologize for that. But we seem to have some things in common, hell, we even share a best friend. So who knows, maybe we could actually get along if we tried. Maybe we could even be friends? Put everything hurtful thing we said to each other in the past, and just start up new and be friends… What do you say?"

Kurt doesn't say anything for a while, and Blaine begins to worry that maybe Kurt will reject him, and just shut the door to his face. He doesn't know why the thought hurts so much. It's not as if they were friends yet, and he knew Kurt all that well, so he doesn't know why the thought of Kurt rejecting his friendship would hurt so deep.

"Blaine…" Kurt interrupted his thoughts. "It wasn't anything you did. I'm sorry if I'm cold with you sometimes."

_Understatement of the year_, thought Blaine silently.

"But you're right" Kurt continued. "We could try and be friends, and just put the past behind us. I'll try not to get offended so easily, and not to be as cold. So we'll have a new beginning, a new friendship, deal?"

With these words, he forwarded his hand, which Blaine shook after a while, sealing their new friendship.

"It's a deal friend" he said with a goofy smile. He couldn't wait to see what his friendship with Kurt would be like, and had a feeling good things would come out of it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Hi guys! Sorry for this chapter being so late! It's actually a little shorter than the previous one was, so sorry about that as well. But hey, we're actually getting closer to Kurt and Blaine becoming **_**KURT AND BLAINE**_**, so yay for that?**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

A week later found Kurt and Blaine both hanging out in the living room and playing with Emily. After their decision to all take care of Emily together and Blaine and Kurt's conversation, the two of them actually strike a tentative friendship, to Blaine's biggest surprise. Even after they had talked and said they would try to be friends, Blaine didn't really have a lot of hope that it would actually happen. Kurt and him had disliked each other for such a long time that he didn't think it was possible for them to get along. He was wrong however, and now that they were spending more and more time together, Kurt seemed to be loosening up around Blaine, and Blaine actually feels comfortable enough with Kurt to be himself, without always walking on eggshells. While Kurt was playing quietly with Emily and blowing raspberries on her stomach, Blaine couldn't help but watch the man. They were so many questions surrounding Kurt, and Blaine couldn't help being curious about his past. Isaac has revealed some of it, and even if Blaine now understood better why Kurt was so guarded, it had raised even more question for him. What had happened to Kurt's parents? Why had he lived in an orphanage? What happened in Kurt's life to actually make him the man he is today? Those were all questions that Blaine thought about sometimes. Had him and Kurt been closer, he would have just asked the man. However, his friendship with Kurt was so new, that Blaine didn't want to risk angering the man and destroying their newfound friendship just to satisfy his curiosity. He would just keep his mouth shut and his questions to himself, and hope that one day him and Kurt had a strong enough friendship that Kurt felt like he could confide in him.

"Stop thinking so hard over there Blaine, you might actually injure yourself." Said Kurt, breaking Blaine out of his contemplation. Hearing the sarcastic remark, Blaine turned towards Kurt to see the man with a smirk on his face, even if he wasn't looking directly at Blaine and was still playing with Emily. The two of them might be friends now, but Kurt was just as sarcastic as he had ever been. Blaine had to admit to himself that he liked it however. He never felt that Kurt was being condescending or mean towards him, but Kurt liked to tease him, and Blaine loved to tease him right back. The sarcastic comments and the teasing actually showed how their friendship had developed, and it warmed Blaine's heart to think about it, even if he would never admit it out loud, especially not to Kurt.

"Ha ha, you are just hilarious" retorted Blaine, picking up Emily from where she was lying on the floor next to Kurt, and bringing her up to his face to kiss her all over the face. "Do you think Kurt is funny Em? No you don't, and you're right, he's just a crazy old man. Yes, you are absolutely right about that baby girl, he's just a crazy old man, with his crazy talk" Blaine said to Emily in a sweet voice, which brought a huge smile on Emily's face, as if she could actually understand what her uncle was talking about.

"Crazy old man? Seriously Blaine, that's what you're going with?" Kurt asked him, pretending to be annoyed even if Blaine could see the amusement in his eyes.

"Well, you are older Kurt. It's nothing to be ashamed off, it's okay."

"By one year Blaine, seriously. Are you ever going to let that go?"

Since learning that Kurt was a year older than him, Blaine had constantly been teasing Kurt about it. It wasn't as if it made any difference really, but Blaine loved having something to hold over Kurt's head, and Kurt would always pretend to be so annoyed with Blaine, which would be even more amusing for the man.

"Nope" Blaine answered to Kurt's question, turning his shit eating grin towards Kurt.

At his answer, Kurt just rolled his eyes and pretended to be annoyed, even if Blaine could see the small smile on the man's face. The sight of it still caught Blaine by surprise, even if it had been happening more and more lately. Since they had started their newfound friendship and Kurt had loosened up around Blaine, Kurt had actually started smiling more, which did nothing to help Blaine's attraction towards the man. This was the only problem with this new friendship. Now that him and Kurt got along, Blaine couldn't help but notice the man, and seemed to be more and more attracted to him. Kurt always had this soft smile when he was playing or talking to Emily, and it never failed to make Blaine's heart beat faster in his chest. Kurt always had these deep blue eyes which could reflect whatever he was feeling, and they seemed a lot more beautiful now that he often saw amusement and fondness towards Blaine in them, instead of indifference and boredom. He had never had this problem before, because Kurt was always so cold and closed off, but now that the man was relaxing and smiled more, Blaine couldn't help but notice how beautiful he was and found himself staring at Kurt quite often.

"You know what we should do?" asked Kurt, cutting Blaine's thought short. "We should take Emily to the park. Central park shouldn't be too crowded at this time of the day, and we could show Emily the squirrels and the swings."

"Actually, that's a great idea. I'm not sure she's ever been before, and it would be great to show her around. I don't think she went out that much before…" Blaine didn't complete his sentence, the memory of his sister's death flooding back to the front of his mind. However, before he could drown in his sad thoughts and the memories of his lost ones, Kurt got up and clapped his hands with enthusiasm.

"Right, all the more reasons to go then! Don't you agree princess?" Kurt said to Emily, tickling her softly where she was sitting in Blaine's arms, which made the little girl smile. Hearing the term of endearment brought a smile to Blaine's face, and actually pushed all thoughts about his sister to the back of his mind. Kurt had started calling his niece "princess" a few days ago, and each time he heard the term, Blaine couldn't help but feel giddy. It wasn't just that it was Kurt using the term; he just loved seeing Kurt and Isaac get along so well with Emily. Both men obviously cared for his niece a lot, and it warmed Blaine's heart to know that he wasn't alone in this. He truly had a great support system, and his two flat mates were being fantastic. The system they had put in place when classes started was actually working quite well. Since they had managed to balance their schedules and each had work or school at different times, there was always one of them around to look after Emily. School had only started back a few days ago, so it was impossible to say if the system would hold, but for the moment, it was working perfectly, and Blaine hoped it would continue. Emily felt comfortable with all three of the men that were looking after her, even if Blaine was still the one who spent the more time with her. The little girl was adapting well, and she was now a lot more lively than she had been when she first moved in. She now babbled quite a lot and she couldn't seem to stop moving and looking at everything with curiosity, which pleased Blaine infinitely, since it showed how she was progressing and felt comfortable in her new home, as unconventional as it was.

Kurt and him got dressed to go out, and bundled Emily up in her coat and small shoes. The three men had been shopping for clothes with Emily together, and Emily was now one of the best dressed 11 month's old little girl in the world. It turned out that Kurt was really into fashion, which shouldn't have surprised Blaine, seeing how the man was always dressed so elegantly and with style. Kurt had even told during their shopping spree that he was actually studying fashion to become a designer someday. After putting Emily in her stroller and getting out of the apartment, Kurt and Blaine started walking towards Central Park, which happened to just be a few block away from their apartment. They walked in companionable silence, and it was nice for both of them to just have some fresh air. When they arrived at the park, they decided to walk around the park a little, so Emily could enjoy a little nature. The little girl couldn't stop looking everywhere around her. She didn't seem to know where to look, and was turning her face all around her to be able to see everything that was surrounding her.

"It's really cute how curious she is. I wonder if this is because she's still so young, of if it's just one of her personality traits" wondered Kurt out loud.

"It is kind of cute how's she's whipping her head around every few seconds. She looks like a character from a cartoon" answered Blaine, which brought a soft laugh out of Kurt's mouth. After walking around the park for about half an hour, the boys decided to bring Emily towards the play ground, so that she could discover the joys of swings and sand boxes. They decided to bring her towards the swings, and though Emily refused to sit in one of them at first, she seemed to really enjoy them once she finally settled down. Blaine was pushing her lightly, and Emily was all smiles and babbling. While they took turn pushing Emily on the swing, Blaine and Kurt were quietly talking, and having a good time. They had discovered that they had quite a lot in common, now that they had stopped avoiding each other and actually had conversations. They discovered that both were really into musicals, and that they could talk about the subject for hours without ever running out of things to say to each other. They also both really liked music, and clothes, even if Blaine's tastes weren't quite as extravagant as Kurt's were.

"So, do you play any instruments or anything?" asked Blaine when he discovered that Kurt was really into music.

"Not really no." answered Kurt "I can sing, I actually used to be in Glee club in high school for a while"

"Seriously?! Me too! That's amazing! Maybe we actually met before then, during a competition or something. Did you guys ever make it to States or Regionals?"

"I doubt it" said Kurt, suddenly a lot more closed off. "I actually dropped out of Glee club when I was still in my Sophomore year and my Glee club wasn't popular at all. We never made it to a competition while I was in Glee".

"I can't believe you can sing! We should totally sing together one day, it could be fun"

"I don't really sing or perform anymore." Said Kurt soberly, avoiding Blaine's eyes.

"Oh, okay." Blaine wanted to ask why Kurt the reason why he didn't sing anymore, but Kurt looked so uncomfortable in that moment that he decided to drop the subject. Blaine was sure there was a story behind the fact, but it would just have to be another question about Kurt Hummel that Blaine didn't have an answer to. Kurt still wouldn't look Blaine in the eyes, and Blaine felt like he had ruined the mood with his questions. Kurt was being abnormally quiet, and Blaine didn't like that he made his friend this uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry" Blaine said softly. "I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"It's not your fault Blaine, you don't need to apologize." Answered Kurt, and even if he still seemed a little uncomfortable, he turned towards Blaine and smiled softly, even if Blaine could tell that the smile was forced. Still, he appreciated the effort, and decided to change the subject so Kurt could go back to being the smiling man he had gotten used to this past week. When Emily started to fuss around in the swing, Blaine picked her up, and started walking toward the sand box, where he sat Emily down. The little girl put her hands in the sand, and just looked at what she was holding with big, round eyes. She seemed mesmerized by the texture, and Blaine was positive it was probably the first time she played in sand in her life. Kurt seemed to relax again, and him and Blaine started talking together again, while both playing with Emily who seemed to be having the time of her life. They stayed there for another half hour, and when Blaine saw that Emily's eyes were drooping, he decided to call it a day and take Emily home so the little girl could have her nap. He picked her up, and was pretending to eat her feet while saying nonsense to the little girl, which not only made Emily laugh, but also brought a big laugh out of Kurt, to Blaine's surprise. At the sound, he turned slowly towards Kurt with a huge smile on his face, he didn't know why, but hearing Kurt laugh at something Blaine did made Blaine's heart skip a beat. Kurt just smiled softly back at Blaine, which brought butterflies to Blaine's stomach. They just stared at each other with smiles of their faces for some time, until Emily made a sound and hit her fist on Blaine's face, which brought back both of their attention towards the little girl. As they walked back towards the apartment, Blaine started thinking about how beautiful Kurt was again, and how giddy he sometimes felt around him. Blaine couldn't deny the fact that he felt more and more attracted to Kurt, but no matter how attracted he might feel, he didn't act on it. Sure, Blaine felt some attraction towards his flat mate, but it was nothing more than that and it didn't mean anything. Kurt was good with Emily, he often played with her, and his niece loved him, so it was normal for Blaine to feel that way… right? When you lived with someone who was as beautiful as Kurt was, and was amazing with your niece, it was normal to look…. Right? And if he sometimes found himself just wanting to spend more and more time with Kurt, even when Emily was asleep, it didn't mean anything, this was just something friends did… right? Sure, he felt like he wanted to know everything about Kurt, and he had hated seeing him uncomfortable in the park and was willing to do anything for Kurt to feel better, but that was just because they were friends. Kurt was just his friend. An insanely attractive friend that was amazing with his niece and seemed to love the most important person in Blaine's life as much as Blaine did, but still, just a friend. It was nothing more than that. Blaine could admit that Kurt was good looking, but that didn't mean anything right? Right. Blaine knew that this wasn't the whole truth, he knew that something was going on and that these feeling were a little more than friendly feelings, but he couldn't admit to himself what the truth and these feelings actually were for the moment. He decided in that moment that denial was the way to go, and everything would go back to normal very soon. Right, of course they would….

However, as they kept walking towards their apartment, Blaine couldn't stop but discretely look towards Kurt every few seconds, and each time, the man took his breath away.

_I am completely screwed_, thought Blaine as he kept walking and did his best to prevent himself from staring at Kurt.


End file.
